By Robert Elmore: Heart, courage, and guts are good in boxing. They certainly are needed just to even climb between the ropes. But in my opinion, those things don’t win fights. It takes skill. Now depending on you ask and depending on the fighter, people will say that it’s the level of opposition and not the skill that gets the job done.
The opposition can only go so far. Let me explain. No fighter has fought top competition their entire career. But when they did face the top level fighter, they came out on top and some did not. And that’s where the skill level kicks in. The fighter may have been a B level fighter, but they probably fought guys who fought A level competition at some period in their career. This prepares them for the A level. Every fighter has an agenda. Heavyweights are hard to measure because there is no super heavyweight division to them to go to. But for those in lower weight classes, there is a lot of room.
When a fighter talks about going to into another weight class, their skills and mindset must elevate. Every fighter’s skill and mindset doesn’t adjust. For example, Roberto Duran was a highly regarded fighter that tore through the lightweight division. It was when he moved up in weight that he found himself on the losing in marquee fights (Thomas Hearns, Ray Leonard twice; he won the first bout, Marvin Hagler, Wilfred Benitez). This is not to say that Duran is a loser, but that was his chance to separate from the pack. Shane Mosley was the same way. His record was 35 and 0 at lightweight before deciding to move up in weight. Mosley enjoyed some success at welter weight and light middle weight, but lost marquee fights (Vernon Forrest and Ronald Wright twice, Mayweather, Pacquiao).
The fighter that is being challenged also must raise their skill level to show that they are a legitimate champion. I believe the boxer who is established in their weight class feels threatened when someone is trying to take their title especially when the challenger is moving up in weight. In 1985, Thomas Hearns challenged Marvin Hagler for the undisputed middleweight title. Hearns had fought only once in that division (Murray Sutherland) before fighting Hagler. In my humble opinion, Hearns could have easily boxed Marvin to a decision, but chose to brawl instead. That played right into Hagler’s hands. Thomas had the jab to keep Hagler on the outside and the footwork to keep him guessing. As good as Oscar De La Hoya was, he lost his career defining fights (Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley twice, Manny Pacquiao and Tito Trinidad).
Former super middleweight champ Lucian Bute was recently relieved of I.B.F.belt by Carl Froch. Many believed that Bute was a hype job and hadn’t really fought to his level of competition. The top competition was fighting in the super six tournament so he took stay busy fights. Yet, when his moment of truth came, he didn’t produce. Floyd Mayweather’s moment of truth came when he challenged then World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Genero Hernandez. Hernandez only other loss had come from De La Hoya. With only 18 pro fights, Floyd dispatched of Genero in 8 rounds. Genero believed he had the skills to beat Floyd or else he wouldn’t have taken the challenged. It came down to skill. Floyd would go on to capture belts in several weight classes. Each time he’s adjusted his skill and mindset and remains undefeated.
And lastly, this past Saturday, Adrien Broner fought Antonio DeMarco for the WBC lightweight title. Both fighters had something to prove. For De Marco, it was to prove he was a legit champ and that Broner was nothing but a hype job. For Broner, it was to prove that he wasn’t a hype job and that his skill would rise to another level when given the opportunity. Broner dismantled DeMarco with ease stopping in 8 rounds. Broner’s skill came to the forefront and De Marco’s didn’t.
Almost every fighter has had a career defining moment. As I stated above, some rise to the occasion and others don’t. It’s all about skill and the level of competiton can only take a fighter so far. When you have two fighters that have equal, speed, skill, strength, footwork etc..then it becomes a matter of who uses it better. What do you say? Skill or opposition that makes the fighter look good?
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